• skip to Main Navigation
  • skip to Main Content
  • skip to Footer
CommonLit Logo CommonLit
    • ENGLISH
    • ESPAÑOL
  • Login
  • Sign up
  • Library
    • Browse All Content
    • Browse Units
    • Search Library
      • Search by text title, author, topic, keyword, etc.
    • Browse By
    • Book
      • Book Pairings View All
      • 1984
      • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
      • The Alchemist
      • Animal Farm
      • The Autobiography of Malcolm X
      • The Bell Jar
      • Beloved
      • Beowulf
      • Black Boy
      • The Book Thief
      • The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
      • Brave New World
      • Bridge to Terabithia
      • Brown Girl Dreaming
      • Bud, Not Buddy
      • Catch 22
      • The Catcher in the Rye
      • The Chocolate War
      • The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
      • Code Talker
      • The Color Purple
      • The Count of Monte Cristo
      • The Crossover
      • The Crucible
      • The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
      • Death of a Salesman
      • The Diary of a Young Girl
      • Dragonwings
      • Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
      • Eight Days: A Story of Haiti
      • Esperanza Rising
      • Fahrenheit 451
      • Farewell to Manzanar
      • The Fault in Our Stars
      • Fences
      • Flush
      • Frankenstein
      • Frightful’s Mountain
      • The Giver
      • The Grapes of Wrath
      • The Great Gatsby
      • Grendel
      • Hamlet
      • The Handmaid's Tale
      • Heart of Darkness
      • The Hobbit
      • Holes
      • The House on Mango Street
      • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
      • Incantation
      • Inside Out & Back Again
      • In the Time of the Butterflies
      • Island of the Blue Dolphins
      • Jacob Have I Loved
      • Jane Eyre
      • The Joy Luck Club
      • Just Mercy
      • The Lightning Thief
      • A Long Walk to Water
      • Lord of the Flies
      • Lyddie
      • Macbeth
      • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
      • Moby Dick
      • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
      • Night
      • Number the Stars
      • The Odyssey
      • Of Mice and Men
      • The Old Man and the Sea
      • Othello
      • The Outsiders
      • Persepolis
      • The Poisonwood Bible
      • Pride and Prejudice
      • Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America
      • A Raisin in the Sun
      • The Remains of the Day
      • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
      • Sahara Special
      • The Scarlet Letter
      • The Secret Life of Bees
      • A Streetcar Named Desire
      • The Sun Also Rises
      • Things Fall Apart
      • To Kill A Mockingbird
      • The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963
      • The Wave
      • When I was Puerto Rican
      • Wide Sargasso Sea
      • Wonder
      • World Without Fish
    • Genre
      • Genres
      • Allegory
      • Autobiography
      • Biography
      • Drama
      • Essay
      • Fable
      • Fantasy
      • Fiction
      • Folktale
      • Historical Document
      • Historical Fiction
      • Informational Text
      • Interview
      • Legal Document
      • Letter
      • Literary Theory
      • Magical Realism
      • Memoir
      • Myth
      • News
      • Non-Fiction
      • Opinion
      • Parable
      • Philosophy
      • Poem
      • Political Theory
      • Primary Source Document
      • Psychology
      • Quotation
      • Religious Text
      • Satire
      • Science Fiction
      • Short Story
      • Skill Lesson
      • Song
      • Speech
    • Grade Level
      • Grade Levels
      • 3rd Grade
      • 4th Grade
      • 5th Grade
      • 6th Grade
      • 7th Grade
      • 8th Grade
      • 9th Grade
      • 10th Grade
      • 11th Grade
      • 12th Grade
    • Literary Device
      • Literary Devices
      • Alliteration
      • Assonance
      • Characterization
      • Consonance
      • Diction
      • Dramatic Irony
      • Ethos
      • External Conflict
      • Figurative Language
      • Flashback
      • Foreshadowing
      • Form
      • Free Verse
      • Hyperbole
      • Imagery
      • Internal Conflict
      • Irony
      • Juxtaposition
      • Logos
      • Meter
      • Mood
      • Paradox
      • Pathos
      • Point of View
      • Repetition
      • Rhetoric
      • Rhyme
      • Suspense
      • Symbolism
      • Theme
      • Tone
      • Unreliable Narrator
    • Text Set
      • Text Sets View All
      • African Cultures and History
      • The American Colonies
      • American Modernism
      • American Realism
      • The American Revolution
      • American Romanticism
      • Ancient Civilizations Around the World
      • Ancient Egypt
      • Ancient Greece
      • Ancient Rome
      • Argument, Bias, and Persuasion
      • Asian Authors and Cultures
      • Black Authors
      • Black Heritage
      • Black History
      • British Literature: 20th Century
      • British Literature: The English Renaissance
      • British Literature: The Extended 18th Century
      • British Literature: The Victorian Era
      • British Romanticism
      • The Civil Rights Movement
      • The Civil War
      • The Cold War
      • College and Career Choices
      • COVID-19
      • Dystopian Literature
      • Founding the United States
      • The Gilded Age
      • The Great Depression
      • The Harlem Renaissance
      • The Holocaust
      • Horror & Suspense
      • Immigration
      • Influential Speeches
      • International Revolutions
      • Irish Literature and Heritage
      • Jewish Authors and Heritage
      • Latinx Authors and History
      • Modern Democracy in America
      • Mythology
      • Native American History and Authors
      • Nature and Conservation
      • Political Theory
      • The Progressive Era
      • Psychology and the Mind
      • Reconstruction to Jim Crow
      • Russian Literature
      • Science of the Body
      • Slavery and Abolition in America
      • Social Emotional Learning
      • Space
      • STEM
      • Texts for Talking About Race
      • Transcendentalism
      • The Vietnam War
      • Westward Expansion
      • Women's Rights
      • Workers' Rights
      • World War I
      • World War II
    • Theme
      • Themes View All
      • America
      • Beauty & Happiness
      • Comedy & Tragedy
      • Community
      • Death
      • Education & Knowledge
      • Fate & Free Will
      • Fear & Paranoia
      • Friendship & Family
      • Growing Up
      • Honor & Courage
      • Identity
      • Justice, Freedom & Equality
      • Loneliness & Isolation
      • Love
      • Man vs. Nature
      • Men & Women
      • Morality
      • Power & Greed
      • Prejudice & Discrimination
      • Resilience & Success
      • Revenge & Betrayal
      • Social Change & Revolution
      • Social Pressure
      • Technology, Progress & Industry
      • War & Peace
    • Spanish Texts
  • Browse All Content
  • Themes
  • Units
  • CommonLit School Essentials

CREATE ACCOUNT

I am an educator
I am a parent/guardian
CommonLit is 100% free for teachers and students.

Enter Class Code

Existing User? Log In
Beginning of dialog window. It begins with a heading 3 called "Create Account". It has two buttons, one for educators that takes you to the educator sign up page and one for students that takes you to another modal which allows you to enter your class code for your enrolled class. Escape will cancel and close the window. This form does not collect any actual information.
Library     Themes     Death

Death

Choose a discussion question below to see our collection of leveled texts.

How do people face death?

Theme image

It’s natural to be afraid of what we don’t know. The problem with death is that nobody is here to tell us what it’s like. Death is a common theme in the literary canon because it is a universal experience. How do people deal with their own impending death and that of their loved ones? How can literature help us come to terms with our own mortality?

  • About
  • Blog
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Curriculum
  • Donate
  • FAQ
  • Partners
  • Press
  • Research
  • Security
  • Parents & Guardians
  • CommonLit School Essentials
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
© 2014-2021 CommonLit. ™ | CommonLit is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.